1) Generate intermediate points in a set of X,Y while respecting the original points order. 2) Generate same number of points for 2 different set of X,Y with different sizes.
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Mohamad TOUT
on 16 Oct 2025 at 6:44
Commented: Mathieu NOE
on 20 Oct 2025 at 10:02
1) Generate intermediate points in a set of X,Y in matlab while respecting the original points order.
2) Generate same number of points for 2 different set of X,Y with different sizes.
I hope my question is clear.
Imagine I have 2 variables with totaly different sizes :
a=[2,1;2,2;1,4;-1,4;-2,1;-2,-2;0,-3;1.5,0];
b = [3,2;3,3;2,5;0,6;-2,5;-3,2;-3,-1;0,-4;2,-2];

I need to generate 2 variables of same dimensions (say 1000 points, Equidistant) from a and b. the first strating with a-start and the second with b-start.
3) I have something like this in 3D but hope an idea to do it for 2D will work also for 3D
Thank you
Accepted Answer
Mathieu NOE
on 16 Oct 2025 at 14:24
my turn to try something... with the help of interparc :
NB that nothing forces the two curves to be parallel (otherwise it would be better to start with a central line and then create the two "borders")
try with the different interpolation methods and pick the one you prefer
here also I took only N = 100 points so we can clearly see them on the plot, but you can opt for more if you want..
may I also point out that going from a very low sampling like 8 points to 1000 interpolated points leaves a lot or room to "interpret" what shape you want to follow (linear, polynomial - which order ?)

a=[2,1;2,2;1,4;-1,4;-2,1;-2,-2;0,-3;1.5,0];
b = [3,2;3,3;2,5;0,6;-2,5;-3,2;-3,-1;0,-4;2,-2];
plot(a(:,1),a(:,2),'ro','markersize',20);grid
hold on
plot(b(:,1),b(:,2),'gs','markersize',20),grid
% interpolate using parametric splines
N = 100;
pta = interparc(N,a(:,1),a(:,2),'pchip');
ptb = interparc(N,b(:,1),b(:,2),'pchip');
% Plot the result
plot(pta(:,1),pta(:,2),'r-*');
plot(ptb(:,1),ptb(:,2),'g-*');
hold off
grid on
axis equal
2 Comments
John D'Errico
on 16 Oct 2025 at 15:01
If the goal is equidistant points along an arc, interparc is the right tool. And it works in any number of dimensions. Of course, I may be biased. ;-)
More Answers (1)
Alan Stevens
on 16 Oct 2025 at 12:46
Edited: Alan Stevens
on 16 Oct 2025 at 12:48
Something like this? (I've just used 50 interpolated points for clarity below). Choose your own interpolation type. The "equidistant" below is interpreted as equal angle separation.
a=[2,1;2,2;1,4;-1,4;-2,1;-2,-2;0,-3;1.5,0];
b = [3,2;3,3;2,5;0,6;-2,5;-3,2;-3,-1;0,-4;2,-2];
plot(a(:,1),a(:,2),'ro-',b(:,1),b(:,2),'bs-'),grid
hold on
% convert to polar coordinates
[tha,ra] = cart2pol(a(:,1),a(:,2));
[thb,rb] = cart2pol(b(:,1),b(:,2));
tha(tha<=0)=tha(tha<=0)+2*pi;
thb(thb<=0)=thb(thb<=0)+2*pi;
na = length(tha);
nb = length(thb);
n = 50; % Nbr of interpolated points
i = 1:n;
thetaa(i) = (tha(na)-tha(1))*(i-1)/(n-1) + tha(1);
thetab(i) = (thb(nb)-thb(1))*(i-1)/(n-1) + thb(1);
xa = interp1(tha,a(:,1),thetaa);
ya = interp1(tha,a(:,2),thetaa);
xb = interp1(thb,b(:,1),thetab);
yb = interp1(thb,b(:,2),thetab);
plot(xa,ya,'*:',xb,yb,'+:')
2 Comments
Mathieu NOE
on 16 Oct 2025 at 13:21
I wonder if the OP wanted something like a spline interpolation, and with equidistant with ds = sqrt(dx²+dy²) in mind ?
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